5 ms·

So when he DM’d me to say that he had “a hell of a story”—promising “one-time pads! 8-bit computers! Flight attendants smuggling floppies full of random numbers

So when he DM’d me to say that he had “a hell of a story”—promising “one-time pads! 8-bit computers! Flight attendants smuggling floppies full of random numbers into South Africa!”—I responded. Ha ha ha. Yes, that was literally my very short pitch to Steven about Tim Jenkin's story! The actual DM: "I think this has the makings of a hell of a story: https://blog.jgc.org/2024/09/cracking-old-zip-file-to-help-open.html https://blog.jgc.org/2024/09/cracking-old-zip-file-to-help-o... If you want I can connect you with Tim Jenkin. One time pads! 8-bit computers! Flights attendants smuggling floppies full of random numbers into South Africa!"

jefb 2y ago
Did you end up discovering the original password to the zip file? (was it, as I'd hope, `TIMBOBIMBO` ?)
- jgrahamc 2y ago
  No, I did not. I threw quite a lot of compute power at it using bkcrack (CPU) and hashcat (GPU) but never found out what it was. It was definitely not TIMBOBIMBO, sadly! I also ended up sponsoring the bkcrack project because the maintainer added a new option for me: https://github.com/kimci86/bkcrack/pull/126 https://github.com/kimci86/bkcrack/pull/126
  - latchkey 2y ago
    How much was "quite a lot"?
    - 1970-01-01 2y ago
      I did a pass with bkcrack. The password is over 13 char. bkcrack.exe -k 98e0f009 48a0b11a c70f8499 -r 1..18 ?p bkcrack 1.7.0 - 2024-05-26 [11:07:33] Recovering password length 0-6... length 7... length 8... length 9... length 10... length 11... length 12... length 13...
      - jgrahamc 2y ago
        I can tell you it's over 14 ?p, and over 16 ?u?d, and over 17 ?u.
        SG- 2y ago
        where's the original encrypted zip for this?
        jgrahamc 2y ago
        If you want to try to crack the password you don't need the ZIP file. Just the key (which you can see in the bkcrack command above).
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
rsynnott 2y ago
Though, you could argue it was a 16 bit computer, of course :) (It was an 8088, essentially an 8086 with an 8 bit data bus, but 16bit registers and 20bit address bus).
- philistine 2y ago
  At this point in time (meaning 2024) bits for computers are a word to indicate a culture rather than the technical merits of a computer.
  - rsynnott 2y ago
    In which case it’s definitely a 16 bit computer; it was just a cheap 8086 (the cheapness achieved through the memory bus), and it was part of the start of the 16 bit era. From the _user’s_ point of view it was basically a 16 bit computer.
soulofmischief 2y ago
This was a great read, thank you for inspiring it! I also did not realize it was you who led the petition for the UK to apologize to Turing, what an achievement. You're quoted at the end as saying, "The code itself is a historical document". That sort of electrified me as I began thinking about what other historical code is out there in need of preservation. I'm fascinated with stuff like this, toolkits meant to be used in the field with little room for incremental development. Tracking this kind of stuff down seems like a fun hobby.
kwar13 2y ago
I didn't know it was you who led the charge for the apology to Turing. Thank you!
aanet 2y ago
This is such a fabulous story!! Thank you, good Sir, for bringing it to light!! <3 The story reads like _The Cuckoo's Egg_ in a way. Spies, intrigue, covert comms, action, revolution! I loved that the code is still around, and works. Kudos!!
mapgrep 2y ago
[flagged]
cutler 2y ago
[flagged]
- neo1250 2y ago
  agree 100% , that would be great!
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- fldskfjdslkfj 2y ago
  The jewish people have a 2000 year old history and presence in the region, if that's consider colonialism then might as well just declare earth a settler-colonialist project and get it over with.
  - anthk 2y ago
    So did the Italians, and I'm not sure if I would like Meloni ruling either Madrid or Barcelona... or the whole Mediterranean Europe and a chunk of Asia.
    - psd1 2y ago
      user fldsk means to say 6000 year history, of course. But I'm willing to come down on that, since Genesis is a bit of a chronological hand-wave. I'm relying on whatever Synod counted the ages of people in the talks and arrived at a creation date of 4004 BC, of course If we grant that Italy is Rome, which is a separate conversation, then we're still left with Roman conquest, which we don't consider legitimate today, and a long period of documented Jewish inhabitation. I don't take a position on the legitimacy or otherwise of Israel, because there are already plenty of indignant westerners with insufficient information. But I will say: that written history is weighty evidence.
      - anthk 2y ago
        The Bible is not a valid source, neither is the Talmud. I would trust the Egyptians far more as they wrote down everything.

jefb 2y ago

Did you end up discovering the original password to the zip file? (was it, as I'd hope, `TIMBOBIMBO` ?)

jgrahamc 2y ago
No, I did not. I threw quite a lot of compute power at it using bkcrack (CPU) and hashcat (GPU) but never found out what it was. It was definitely not TIMBOBIMBO, sadly! I also ended up sponsoring the bkcrack project because the maintainer added a new option for me: https://github.com/kimci86/bkcrack/pull/126 https://github.com/kimci86/bkcrack/pull/126
- latchkey 2y ago
  How much was "quite a lot"?
  - 1970-01-01 2y ago
    I did a pass with bkcrack. The password is over 13 char. bkcrack.exe -k 98e0f009 48a0b11a c70f8499 -r 1..18 ?p bkcrack 1.7.0 - 2024-05-26 [11:07:33] Recovering password length 0-6... length 7... length 8... length 9... length 10... length 11... length 12... length 13...
    - jgrahamc 2y ago
      I can tell you it's over 14 ?p, and over 16 ?u?d, and over 17 ?u.
      - SG- 2y ago
        where's the original encrypted zip for this?
        jgrahamc 2y ago
        If you want to try to crack the password you don't need the ZIP file. Just the key (which you can see in the bkcrack command above).
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]

rsynnott 2y ago

Though, you could argue it was a 16 bit computer, of course :) (It was an 8088, essentially an 8086 with an 8 bit data bus, but 16bit registers and 20bit address bus).

philistine 2y ago
At this point in time (meaning 2024) bits for computers are a word to indicate a culture rather than the technical merits of a computer.
- rsynnott 2y ago
  In which case it’s definitely a 16 bit computer; it was just a cheap 8086 (the cheapness achieved through the memory bus), and it was part of the start of the 16 bit era. From the _user’s_ point of view it was basically a 16 bit computer.

soulofmischief 2y ago

This was a great read, thank you for inspiring it! I also did not realize it was you who led the petition for the UK to apologize to Turing, what an achievement. You're quoted at the end as saying, "The code itself is a historical document". That sort of electrified me as I began thinking about what other historical code is out there in need of preservation. I'm fascinated with stuff like this, toolkits meant to be used in the field with little room for incremental development. Tracking this kind of stuff down seems like a fun hobby.

kwar13 2y ago

I didn't know it was you who led the charge for the apology to Turing. Thank you!

aanet 2y ago

This is such a fabulous story!! Thank you, good Sir, for bringing it to light!! <3 The story reads like _The Cuckoo's Egg_ in a way. Spies, intrigue, covert comms, action, revolution! I loved that the code is still around, and works. Kudos!!

mapgrep 2y ago

[flagged]

cutler 2y ago

[flagged]

neo1250 2y ago
agree 100% , that would be great!
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
fldskfjdslkfj 2y ago
The jewish people have a 2000 year old history and presence in the region, if that's consider colonialism then might as well just declare earth a settler-colonialist project and get it over with.
- anthk 2y ago
  So did the Italians, and I'm not sure if I would like Meloni ruling either Madrid or Barcelona... or the whole Mediterranean Europe and a chunk of Asia.
  - psd1 2y ago
    user fldsk means to say 6000 year history, of course. But I'm willing to come down on that, since Genesis is a bit of a chronological hand-wave. I'm relying on whatever Synod counted the ages of people in the talks and arrived at a creation date of 4004 BC, of course If we grant that Italy is Rome, which is a separate conversation, then we're still left with Roman conquest, which we don't consider legitimate today, and a long period of documented Jewish inhabitation. I don't take a position on the legitimacy or otherwise of Israel, because there are already plenty of indignant westerners with insufficient information. But I will say: that written history is weighty evidence.
    - anthk 2y ago
      The Bible is not a valid source, neither is the Talmud. I would trust the Egyptians far more as they wrote down everything.